The Sexual Offences Act 1985 (c.44) was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

that created two offences concerning

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

, and increased the maximum sentence for attempted

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

from seven years to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

. The act was applicable in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

only. The new offences were

kerb crawling Clients of prostitutes or sex workers are sometimes known as ''johns'' or ''tricks'' in North America and ''punters'' in Britain and Ireland. In common parlance among prostitutes as well as with others, the act of negotiating and then engaging with ...

and persistently soliciting women for the purposes of prostitution. In 1991 the

Director of Public Prosecutions The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...

and head of the

Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...

, Sir Allan Green KCB QC, was arrested for an offence under this Act and had to resign. Sections 3, 4(2) and (3), and 5(2) were repealed b
Schedule 7
to the

Sexual Offences Act 2003 The Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It partly replaced the Sexual Offences Act 1956 with more specific and explicit wording. It also created several new offences such as non-consensual voyeuris ...

. The whole Act was repealed by the

Policing and Crime Act 2009 The Policing and Crime Act 2009 (c 26) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act makes provision about police reform, prostitution, sex offenders, sex establishments and certain other premises. It amends the law on aviation sec ...

Provisions

;S1 Kerb-crawlingSexual Offences Act 1985 This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright. :(1) A man commits an offence if he solicits a woman (or different women) for the purpose of prostitution— ::(a) from a motor vehicle while it is in a street or public place; or ::b) in a street or public place while in the immediate vicinity of a motor vehicle that he has just got out of or off,persistently or, subject to section 5(6) below, in such manner or in such circumstances as to be likely to cause annoyance to the woman (or any of the women) solicited, or nuisance to other persons in the neighbourhood. ;S2 Persistent soliciting of women for the purpose of prostitution :(1) A man commits an offence if in a street or public place he persistently solicits a woman (or different women) for the purpose of prostitution. ;S3 Penalties for certain sexual offencesSexual Offences Act 1985 This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright. :(1) Schedule 2 to the 956 c. 69.Sexual Offences Act 1956 (which shows the penalties which may be imposed for offences under that Act and attempts to commit certain of those offences) shall be amended as follows. :(2) In paragraph 1(b) (attempted rape), in the third column, for " Seven years " there shall be substituted " Life ". :(3) In paragraph 17 (indecent assault on a woman), in the third column, for " If on a girl under thirteen who is stated to have been so in the indictment, five years; otherwise two years " there shall be substituted " Ten years ".

Provisions

References

See also